{"id":2034,"date":"2025-12-10T19:55:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T19:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2034"},"modified":"2025-12-10T19:55:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T19:55:19","slug":"iran-egypt-rejects-lgbtq-themed-world-cup-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2034","title":{"rendered":"Iran, Egypt rejects LGBTQ-themed World Cup match"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Iran and Egypt have both objected to plans by local organisers in the United States to brand their 2026 World Cup group-stage match as an event supporting the LGBTQ community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The organising committee in Seattle, Washington, where the fixture is scheduled to take place next year, had previously announced its intention to hold a \u201cPride Match\u201d coinciding with the northwestern city\u2019s Pride Weekend in late June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Rema, Selena Gomez - Calm Down (Official Music Video)\" width=\"980\" height=\"551\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WcIcVapfqXw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Following last week\u2019s FIFA tournament draw, Egypt and Iran are now slated to face off in Seattle on June 26, the Friday before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The head of Iran\u2019s Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, was quoted by local news agency ISNA as saying that Tehran and Cairo had both raised \u201cobjections against the issue\u201d, which he labelled an \u201cirrational move that supports a certain group\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taj did not mention the specific branding of the fixture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Monday, Iranian state television said Tehran would \u201cappeal\u201d to FIFA over the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Homosexuality is illegal in Iran under Islamic law and can be punishable by death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a statement, the Egyptian Football Association said it had sent a formal letter to FIFA secretary-general Mattias Grafstrom, rejecting \u201cin absolute terms\u201d any activities linked to LGBTQ support during the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The EFA said such initiatives would clash with \u201cthe cultural, religious and social values\u201d of both Egypt and Iran and urged FIFA to ensure the match would remain focused solely on football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Egypt, homosexuality is not expressly outlawed, but is often punished under loosely worded laws prohibiting \u201cdebauchery\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The EFA cited FIFA\u2019s statutes on political and social neutrality, arguing that matches should not be used to promote causes that are \u201csensitive or of a contentious nature\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2026 World Cup will mark Iran\u2019s seventh participation in the tournament, which will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Iran and the United States have had no diplomatic relations since 1980, following a hostage crisis in the wake of the 1979 Islamic revolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Iran had initially opted out of Friday\u2019s draw to protest the US refusal to grant visas to several members of its delegation but eventually reversed the decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Tuesday, Taj said some Iranian players might face visa problems over their service in the Iranian military, which includes the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) \u2014 designated a \u201cterrorist organisation\u201d by the US in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFor the World Cup, we must work on having replacement options, and we have already started that,\u201d he said. <a href=\"https:\/\/punchng.com\/iran-egypt-rejects-lgbtq-themed-world-cup-match\/\">(Punch)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Iran and Egypt have both objected to plans by local organisers in the United States to brand their 2026 World Cup group-stage match as an event supporting the LGBTQ community. The organising committee in Seattle, Washington, where the fixture is scheduled to take place next year, had previously announced its intention to hold a \u201cPride [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[1407,236,940,326,433,2427,275,2428,57],"class_list":["post-2034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-2026-world-cup","tag-canada","tag-egypt","tag-fifa","tag-iran","tag-lgbtq","tag-mexico","tag-pride-match","tag-united-states"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Iran, Egypt rejects LGBTQ-themed World Cup match - Tona Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Iran and Egypt have both objected to plans by local organisers in the United States to brand their 2026 World Cup g\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2034\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Iran, Egypt rejects LGBTQ-themed World Cup match - 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